The public is being poorly served by the Post's decision. The ombudsman's job is important because it implicitly signals that a major news organization recognizes its power and wants to construct an internal check on the exercise of that power.

While our politics have become a shouting match of pander and slander, name-calling and talking points, celebrity media and instant misanalysis, C-SPAN shines as an exemplar of what a free press in a free nation should be.

The author was obviously trying to put the 2009 dinner in context with how previous years' affairs went. But he may have gotten a bit carried away in including quite so many characters, even as afterthoughts.